iPhone, Day 5 - "Can I Touch It?"

I was preparing to write this morning and stopped by my Yahoo page to check the MLB Standings when I came across this Red Stripe Beer ad. I love it when companies in completely unrelated industries hop on a juggernaut like the iPhone. I got quite a chuckle from the ad unit and more so when I clicked into the site. I found amusing work that goes hand in hand with the extremely odd television campaign, so bravo Red Stripe, I like it when things work together.

I'm not planning to chronicle life with the iPhone, but in my other space I answered a bunch of questions that people have about the iPhone and thought I would do the same here. I was pleased the last week Apple chose to answer all of the critics of the iPhone in one day. They updated the iPhone page and posted a slew of press releases that answered the battery life, size, and capability of the device. Here's my take:

"How is the battery?" is the most frequently asked question. On Monday at the office I demoed every feature for everyone who asked. There was a lot of interest in YouTube, the video iPod, the email, the phone interface, the contacts, the text function (and for one accounting friend - the calculator...) I used the device for 8 solid hours in ways I would never use it (it would be difficult to get any work done!) When I got home the battery was dead. On Tuesday I showed it slightly less. I used the phone as "the tie breaker" at dinner (no more waiting to find out if someone is making something up - I can Google it at dinner, whatever "it" may be...) I took a number of photographs. When I got home I still had 33% battery power with no charging at work during the day. In my opinion, the battery is going to work out just fine - especially if I remember to bring the charger with me.

At dinner nice people at two different tables asked if they could touch it. That question comes up a lot. My willingness to pass the phone expires in 2 days - so catch me before Saturday if you want to try out the new toy.

"How is the camera?" The camera is a 2 megapixel camera - it's fine for those fashion errors that I must absolutely blog. It's ideal for the "how do you like the shape of this chair?" conversation, and as you will see in the snaps below is just fine for "ooh, that's a cool Mac in the trash pile" photo. Will it replace my Nikon D-40? Not a chance - but on the days I'm not carrying the awesome-cam, the iPhone will be fine.

"How is the phone?" was frequently asked in the form of "I hear the phone sucks." The phone is great. I love the keypad - it's the large print edition that I need more and more. The headphones that came with the phone have a mic in them so if I'm listening to music, a message appears asking if I want to answer or ignore a call. If I answer it pauses the music. Love that. "How was the activation?" The activation took three minutes for me. I was an existing AT&T/Cingular customer - so there was no delay. I haven't heard from any existing AT&T customers about any delays. Word to the wise - if you go to AT&T and want to change your Motorola Razr from another carrier to AT&T - there will be a delay in service. Same for the iPhone. Oh the horror.

In summary: It's a really cool thing that does what I need it to do. It calls my husband to tell him I'm running late. It does my laundry and pays my bills. It feeds the cat and remembers to Tivo Jon Stewart. It is faithful to Weight Watchers and it recycles. Um, hello - it's a phone. I happen to like the interface, and I can check my email and take pix. It's not actually the God Machine. Your results may vary.

I am dying to hear about your iPhone experiences - please drop a comment!

Some snaps to prove the iPhone camera worthiness:

Co-workers Jon and Byron join the iPhone club

The horror of a vintage Mac labeled "trash"

Boston's historic North End in gorgeous evening light

Comments

[Jeff Flemings - blog editor]

I am following your iPhone odyssey with great interest, but I actually most enjoyed the Red Stripe beer ad because I think it illustrates an important point about brands (particular in a "retail" business) can successfully tap into pop culture as it's unfolding

What's great is that you can admire Red Stripe's "statement" regardless of how you feel about iPhone

[nate]

checked out the iphone at the apple store. i said to myself, if they have one in stock "i'm gunna get it" - lol, turns out they had 2 4gigs left. doh! they called my bluff. never ended up getting one. Too expensive!